The US has made a rare return to Japan's currency market, buying yen for the first time in more than a decade in what President Donald Trump described as "a signal of friendship."
The rare move aimed to support the yen after it fell to a 40-year low against the US dollar.
"They have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help. And we’re always there for Japan," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
His remarks followed a report by the Financial Times on Friday that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York sold euros to buy yen on behalf of the Treasury Department, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Economic backing
Trump said backing the yen would be "good for the world economy," pointing to last year's $20 billion bailout for Argentina and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as examples of US intervention helping to strengthen other countries' economies.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US and Japan jointly intervened in foreign exchange markets Friday to curb disorderly swings in the yen, adding the Treasury Department "will not hesitate to participate in further joint intervention."
"We strongly support Japan’s decisive market and monetary steps to correct the substantial undervaluation of the yen," he said Sunday on X.
Japan's Finance Ministry said the intervention was aimed at countering "excessive volatility and disorderly movements" in the yen, adding that Tokyo remains in close contact with Washington and "will not hesitate to conduct further joint intervention."
Trump praised Japan's ties with the US, saying: "Japan has always been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbour."
The intervention marks the first joint currency market action by the US and Japan since 2011, when G7 nations and the Bank of Japan coordinated efforts to curb a sharp rise in the yen following the devastating earthquake and tsunami.
